Queen Charlotte | FRONTLINE | PBS WATCH SCHEDULE TOPICS ABOUT FRONTLINE SHOP TEACHER CENTER With features as conspicuously Negroid as they were reputed to be by her contemporaries, it is no wonder that the black community, both in the U.S. and throughout the British Commonwealth, have rallied around pictures of Queen Charlotte for generations. They have pointed out the physiological traits that so obviously identify the ethnic strain of the young woman who, at first glance, looks almost anomalous, portrayed as she usually is, in the sumptuous splendour of her coronation robes. Queen Charlotte, wife of the English King George III (1738-1820), was directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House. The riddle of Queen Charlotte's African ancestry was solved as a result of an earlier investigation into the black magi featured in 15th century Flemish paintings.

Two art historians had suggested that the black magi must have been portraits of actual contemporary people (since the artist, without seeing them, would not have been aware of the subtleties in colouring and facial bone structure of quadroons or octoroons which these figures invariably represented) Enough evidence was accumulated to propose that the models for the black magi were, in all probability, members of the Portuguese de Sousa family. (Several de Sousas had in fact traveled to the Netherlands when their cousin, the Princess Isabella went there to marry the Grand Duke, Philip the Good of Burgundy in the year 1429.) Six different lines can be traced from English Queen Charlotte back to Margarita de Castro y Sousa, in a gene pool which because of royal inbreeding was already minuscule, thus explaining the Queen's unmistakable African appearance. Queen Charlotte's Portrait: The Negroid characteristics of the Queen's portraits certainly had political significance since artists of that period were expected to play down, soften or even obliterate undesirable features in a subjects's face. Sir Allan Ramsay was the artist responsible for the majority of the paintings of the Queen and his representations of her were the most decidedly African of all her portraits.

Ramsey was an anti-slavery intellectual of his day. He also married the niece of Lord Mansfield, the English judge whose 1772 decision was the first in a series of rulings that finally ended slavery in the British Empire. It should be noted too that by the time Sir Ramsay was commissioned to do his first portrait of the Queen, he was already , by marriage, uncle to Dido Elizabeth Lindsay, the black grand niece of Lord Mansfield. Thus, from just a cursory look at the social awareness and political activism at that level of English society, it would be surprising if the Queen's negroid physiogomy was of no significance to the Abolitionist movement. Lord Mansfield's black grand niece, for example, Ms. Lindsay, was the subject of at least two formal full sized portraits. Obviously prompted by or meant to appeal to abolitionist sympathies, they depicted the celebrated friendship between herself and her white cousin, Elizabeth Murray, another member of the Mansfield family. One of the artists was none other than Zoffany, the court painter to the royal family, for whom the Queen had sat on a number of occasions.

It is perhaps because of this fairly obvious case of propagandistic portraiture that makes one suspect that Queen Charlotte's coronation picture, copies of which were sent out to the colonies, signified a specific stance on slavery held, at least, by that circle of the English intelligencia to which Allan Ramsay, the painter belonged. More on Queen Charlotte Regency History: Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) from La Belle Assemblée (1806) Profile Queen Charlotte (19 May 1744 - 17 November 1818) was the wife of George III. She was a keen botanist and helped develop the gardens at Kew . Marriage to George III Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born on 19 May 1744. On 8 September 1761, she married King George III of England, just a few hours after meeting him for the first time. The Princess was not generally thought handsome, but was gracious and devoted to her husband.

The couple enjoyed many happy years together with a mutual love of the outdoors and a preference for austere living. Queen Charlotte from Memoirs of HM Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz by William Marshall Craig (1818) Kew Gardens Charlotte was a patroness of the arts and a keen amateur botanist. George III gave Richmond Lodge and estate to Queen Charlotte in 1761 as part of their marriage settlement, and, during the 1770s, she developed a retreat, known today as Queen Charlotte’s Cottage , within the grounds of what is now Kew Gardens, as a picnic place for her family. Queen Charlotte's Cottage, Kew Gardens It was situated near a paddock known as the New Menagerie which housed exotic animals including buffaloes, the first kangaroos to arrive in England and a quagga, a now extinct animal similar to a zebra. Charlotte was instructed in botany by Sir James Edward Smith and in botanical illustration by Francis Bauer and Margaret Meen.

The Chinese pagoda, Kew Gardens George III's illness After 1804, however, as her husband’s health deteriorated, she grew fat and unpleasant, unable to cope with her husband’s illness, and growing afraid to be left alone with him. She died on 17 November 1818, outlived by her sick husband, and was buried in the royal vault of St George's Chapel , Windsor Castle, on 2 December 1818. The chair in which Queen Charlotte died, in her bedroom in Kew Palace The children of George III and Queen Charlotte The royal couple had fifteen children: 1. George, Prince of Wales (1762-1830). Became King George IV on his father’s death in 1820. England's first Black Queen, Sophie Charlotte born | African American Registry England's first Black Queen, Sophie Charlotte born Queen Charlotte of England Date: Tue, 1744-05-19 *Princess Sophie Charlotte was born on this date in 1744. She was the first Black Queen of England.

Charlotte was the eighth child of the Prince of Mirow, Germany, Charles Louis Frederick, and his wife, Elisabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1752, when she was eight years old, Sophie Charlotte's father died. As princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Sophie Charlotte was descended directly from an African branch of the Portuguese Royal House, Margarita de Castro y Sousa. Six different lines can be traced from Princess Sophie Charlotte back to Margarita de Castro y Sousa. She married George III of England on September 8, 1761, at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, London, at the age of 17 years of age becoming the Queen of England and Ireland. The conditions of the marriage contract were, ‘The young princess, join the Anglican church and be married according to Anglican rites, and never ever involve herself in politics’. Although the Queen had an interest in what was happening in the world, especially the war in America, she fulfilled her marital agreement. The Royal couple had fifteen children, thirteen of whom survived to adulthood. Their fourth eldest son was Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, later fathered Queen Victoria.

Queen Charlotte made many contributions to Britain as it is today, though the evidence is not obvious or well publicized. Her African bloodline in the British royal family is not common knowledge. Portraits of the Queen had been reduced to fiction of the Black Magi, until two art historians suggested that the definite African features of the paintings derived from actual subjects, not the minds of painters. In Queen Charlotte’s era slavery was prevalent and the anti-slavery campaign was growing. Portrait painters of the royal family were expected to play down or soften Queen Charlotte's African features. Painters such as Sir Thomas Lawrence, who painted, Queen Charlotte in the autumn of 1789 had their paintings rejected by the royal couple who were not happy with the representations of the likeness of the Queen. These portraits are amongst those that are available to view now, which could be seen as continuing the political interests of those that disapprove of a multi-racial royal family for Britain. Sir Allan Ramsey produced the most African representations of the Queen and was responsible for the majority of the paintings of the Queen. Ramsey’s inclination to paint truer versions of the Queen could be seen to have come from being ‘an anti-slavery intellectual of his day.

The Coronation painting by Ramsey, of the Queen was sent out to the colonies/commonwealth and played a subtle political role in the anti-slavery movement. Johann Zoffany also frequently painted the Royal family in informal family scenes. Queen Charlotte was a learned character, her letters indicate that she was well read and had interests in the fine arts. The Queen is known to have supported and been taught music by Johann Christian Bach. She was extremely generous to Bach’s wife after Bach’s death. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at aged eight dedicated his Opus 3 piece to the Queen at her request. Also an amateur botanist, Queen Charlotte helped to establish Kew Gardens bringing amongst others the Strelitzia Reginae, a flowering plant from South Africa. The Queen who had the first one in her house in 1800 introduced the Christmas tree to England. It was said to be decorated with, ‘sweetmeats, almonds and raisins in papers, fruit and toys. Also the Queen Charlotte Maternity hospital was established in London. Set up as a charitable institution, it is the oldest maternity care institution in England.

Queen Charlotte died on November 17, 1818 at Dutch House in Surrey, now Kew Palace, in the presence of her eldest son, the Prince Regent. She is buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. The only private writings that have survived are Queen Charlotte's 444 letters to her closest confidant her older brother, Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. On 23 May 1773 in a letter, the Queen felt she was in a position of privilege yet a task. Her Christian faith was a protection and a method of endurance, as she quotes from the Bible and recognizes her role as a royal of God beyond her royal role on earth. An exhibition took place in 2004, at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace displaying Charlotte and George’s collections and tastes in the arts. Queen Charlotte was the great great-great grandmother of the present Queen Elizabeth II who still lives in the expanded Buckingham House, now Buckingham Palace. Kew gardens still flourishes and is always being expanded, also the Queen Charlotte maternity hospital and many other places still carry her name in honor globally such as Charlotte town, Canada and Fort Charlotte, St Vincent, West Indies.

Reference: 204 37th Avenue North Suite330 St. Petersburg, FL. 33704 1000+ images about Great Britain - Hanover - King George III & Charlotte of Mecklenburg on Pinterest | King george, Charlotte and Children Forward Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen of the United Kingdom as wife of King George III. She was Queen Consort of the United Kingdom. Charlotte and George III had 15 children of whom thirteen survived to adulthood. She was the longest consort, serving 58 years. During George III's reign, his home country lost thirteen of its colonies in North America (they became the United States), See More A Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz A Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as Queen of England Sophie Charlotte, 1744-1818 Queen Charlotte, from a painting by Edridge. Frontispiece of vol. 2: Charlotte Papendiek, Court and Private Life in the Time of Queen Charlotte. London, 1887. Weitere Informationen über die deutsche Ausstellung.

More than two hundred years ago a young princess named Sophie Charlotte, from the tiny German principality of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , played a prominent, though reticent, role on the stage of European world history. As Queen of Great Britain and consort of George III she became an eye witness of a turbulent age. During the reign of George III (1760-1820) Great Britain developed into a far-reaching empire by colonizing Australia, New Zealand, and India, and conquering Canada and the West Indies. However, this empire also suffered the loss of the American colonies (1776) and the tremors of the French Revolution (1789), and countered Napoleon's threatening advances with the victories at Trafalgar (1805) and Waterloo (1815). How informative it would have been for future generations if Queen Charlotte had described the events of her time and her environment in the candid way of Liselotte von der Pfalz, or in the elegant style of Madame de Sévigné.

The only private writings that have survived are Queen Charlotte's 444 letters to her closest confidant--her older brother, Charles II (1741-1816), Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. There are, though, interesting contemporary reports about life at the Court of St. James's from which can be gleaned a sympathetic personal portrait of the Queen from Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Princess Sophie Charlotte was born on May 19, 1744--the eighth child of the Prince of Mirow, Charles Louis Frederick, and his wife, Elisabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1752, when she was eight years old, Sophie Charlotte's father died. Adolf Frederick III, reigning duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had founded the city of Neustrelitz in 1733, died in the same year. His successor was Sophie Charlotte's brother, Adolf Frederick IV, who under the name of "Dörchläuchting" has become an immortal figure in Low German literature through the writings of Fritz Reuter.

In August of 1761, he and Sophie Charlotte's dying mother signed the marriage contract with the British King George III of the House of Hanover. At the age of 22, the King had chosen the 17-year-old Strelitz princess as his bride. This marriage contract, written in Latin, contained the following conditions: The young princess should leave for Great Britain immediately, join the Anglican church and be married according to Anglican rites, and never ever involve herself in politics. She fulfilled all three demands to the fullest satisfaction of her king and consort. Sophie Charlotte left her Mecklenburg homeland eight days after her mother's death, never to return. She travelled for three days in a triumphal procession to Stade in the Hanoverian kingdom. On August 28, 1761, she boarded the splendidly appointed yacht "Royal Charlotte" at Cuxhaven at the North Sea. During the stormy ten-day voyage which rendered her five ladies-in-waiting unfit for service, the young royal bride comforted herself with singing and playing the harpsichord.

She played the national anthem of Great Britain, "God save the King," and memorized a few English sentences--English had not been taught at the court of Neustrelitz. Mademoiselle Seltzer and Madame de Grabow, a native of Güstrow who was also known as the "German Sappho," had instructed the princesses in the German, French, and Italian languages and literatures as well as in geography. Map making had been of special interest. The fine arts of dancing, drawing, singing, and the playing of musical instruments had not been neglected. Delicate embroidery was a daily and diligent pursuit. The Lutheran theologian Gentzmer taught the ducal children the basics in religion, natural philosophy, mineralogy, and botany. His pains were amply rewarded. His famous pupil later received the honorary title of "Queen of Botany" from the British people because of her great interest in the enlargement and support of the Royal botanical gardens at Kew. In 1773, Sir Joseph Banks, then director of Kew Gardens, named the exotic "Bird of Paradise" plant from the Cape of Good Hope Strelitzia Reginae in honor of his Queen.

When George III first received his young bride on September 9, 1761, at the garden gate of St James's Palace, he was supposedly taken aback by her lack of beauty. It became evident, though, that the pious and modest Strelitz princess soon conquered his heart and willingly submitted to his strong influence over her. Life at the British court was anything but easy for her with a domineering German mother-in-law, Princess Augusta of Wales, and her [Charlotte's] lady-in-waiting Juliane von Schwellenberg, who came with the princess from Mecklenburg-Strelitz and who wanted to protect her young charge at all costs. Nicknamed "Schwelly," von Schwellenberg soon became the laughing-stock of the British people. In the first twenty-one years of her marriage Queen Charlotte gave birth to fifteen children - nine sons and six daughters. In contrast to most European Royal houses George III and Charlotte had a harmonious marriage. However, during their lifetimes the British court had the reputation of being the dullest in all of Europe because of their notoriously frugal, plain, and pious life-style. Their charities, however, were legend.

Hospitals such as the famous Queen's Lying-in Hospital in London which was founded by Charlotte, orphanages, "decayed" musicians, and untold poor families could rely on their munificent patronage. Eight-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart happily fulfilled Queen Charlotte's request and dedicated his Opus 3 to her. When her court musician and music teacher Johann Christian Bach (also called the "London Bach") died of consumption, she paid for his funeral and established a pension for his widow. In 1788, a shadow fell on the happiness of the Royal family. It became evident that George III had started his slow and violent descent into the madness which medical authorities believe to have been caused by the inherited malady porphyria . His suffering lasted for thirty years until his death in 1820. The Royal Marriage Act, pushed through Parliament by George III in 1772, placed another heavy burden on his family. It stipulated that none of his descendants could marry before the age of twenty-five without the King's consent, and even then they might only marry Protestant princes or princesses. The result of this rather strange law was that his children sought refuge in secret marriages and illicit love affairs or stayed unmarried.

Queen Charlotte's court in later years was also called "The Nunnery." In 1790, the queen bought her last residence--"Frogmore House"--a small country palace located one-half mile southwest of Windsor Castle. She called this beloved home of her old age her "little paradise" where she could study her favorite subject botany and find peace from the constant disturbance caused by her consort's illness. Her oldest son George, Prince of Wales, finally was named regent in 1812, at the age of fifty and, in 1820, upon the death of his father, ascended the throne as George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Hanover. The "regency of the person" of the ill king George III remained in the hands of his loyal Queen Charlotte until her death on November 17, 1818, at Kew Palace.

"Prudence imposes silence, & that little dear word Silence has so often been my friend in necessity, that I make it my constant companion." -- Queen Charlotte Oueen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Britains Black Queen 8 September 1761 – 17 November 1818) | KingMix Oueen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Britains Black Queen 8 September 1761 – 17 November 1818) Oueen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Britains Black Queen 8 September 1761 – 17 November 1818) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ With features as conspicuously Negroid as they were reputed to be by her contemporaries, it is no wonder that the black community, both in the U.S. and throughout the British Commonwealth, have rallied around pictures of Queen Charlotte for generations.

They have pointed out the physiological traits that so obviously identify the ethnic strain of the young woman who, at first glance, looks almost anomalous, portrayed as she usually is, in the sumptuous splendour of her coronation robes.Queen Charlotte, wife of the English King George III (1738-1820), was directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House. The riddle of Queen Charlotte’s African ancestry was solved as a result of an earlier investigation into the black magi featured in 15th century Flemish paintings. Two art historians had suggested that the black magi must have been portraits of actual contemporary people (since the artist, without seeing them, would not have been aware of the subtleties in colouring and facial bone structure of quadroons or octoroons which these figures invariably represented) Enough evidence was accumulated to propose that the models for the black magi were, in all probability, members of the Portuguese de Sousa family.

(Several de Sousas had in fact traveled to the Netherlands when their cousin, the Princess Isabella went there to marry the Grand Duke, Philip the Good of Burgundy in the year 1429.)Six different lines can be traced from English Queen Charlotte back to Margarita de Castro y Sousa, in a gene pool which because of royal inbreeding was already minuscule, thus explaining the Queen’s unmistakable African appearance.Queen Charlotte’s Portrait: The Negroid characteristics of the Queen’s portraits certainly had political significance since artists of that period were expected to play down, soften or even obliterate undesirable features in a subjects’s face. Sir Allan Ramsay was the artist responsible for the majority of the paintings of the Queen and his representations of her were the most decidedly African of all her portraits. Ramsey was an anti-slavery intellectual of his day. He also married the niece of Lord Mansfield, the English judge whose 1772 decision was the first in a series of rulings that finally ended slavery in the British Empire.

It should be noted too that by the time Sir Ramsay was commissioned to do his first portrait of the Queen, he was already , by marriage, uncle to Dido Elizabeth Lindsay, the black grand niece of Lord Mansfield.Thus, from just a cursory look at the social awareness and political activism at that level of English society, it would be surprising if the Queen’s negroid physiogomy was of no significance to the Abolitionist movement. Lord Mansfield’s black grand niece, for example, Ms. Lindsay, was the subject of at least two formal full sized portraits. Obviously prompted by or meant to appeal to abolitionist sympathies, they depicted the celebrated friendship between herself and her white cousin, Elizabeth Murray, another member of the Mansfield family.

One of the artists was none other than Zoffany, the court painter to the royal family, for whom the Queen had sat on a number of occasions.It is perhaps because of this fairly obvious case of propagandistic portraiture that makes one suspect that Queen Charlotte’s coronation picture, copies of which were sent out to the colonies, signified a specific stance on slavery held, at least, by that circle of the English intelligencia to which Allan Ramsay, the painter belonged. More on Queen Charlotte St George’s Chapel , Windsor Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was a Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Queen of the United Kingdom as the consort of King George III . She was also the Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and electress of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until the promotion of her husband to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814, which made her Queen consort of Hanover. Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts, known to Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , among others. She was also an amateur botanist who helped expand Kew Gardens .

George III and Charlotte had 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood. Early life Charlotte’s birthplace, Schloss Mirow Sophia Charlotte was born on 19 May 1744. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow and his wife, Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen . She was a granddaughter of Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz by his third wife, Christiane Emilie Antonie, Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen . Her father’s elder half brother reigned from 1708 to 1753 as Adolf Friedrich III . The children of the duke were all born at Schloss Mirow, a modest palace, or rather country house. The daily life at Mirow was nearly that of the family of some simple English country gentleman. [1] The morning was devoted to study and instruction in needlework, embroidery, and lace-making, in which the daughters were very skilful. They were brought up in the most careful way, receiving an admirable education, and were grounded in religious principles under the direction of their mother.

[2] They were further directed by M. Gentzner, a Lutheran minister of many accomplishments, who had a particular knowledge of botany, mineralogy , and science. [1] Marriage When King George III succeeded to the throne of the United Kingdom upon the death of his grandfather, George II , it was considered right that he should seek a bride who could fulfil all the duties of her exalted position in a manner that would satisfy the feelings of the country at large. [3] George was originally smitten with Lady Sarah Lennox , sister of the Duke of Richmond , but his mother the Dowager Princess of Wales and his political advisor Lord Bute advised against the match, and George abandoned the idea. Charlotte’s husband, George III of the United Kingdom Colonel Graeme, who had been sent to the various courts of Germany on a mission of investigation, reported the charms of character and the excellent qualities of mind possessed by the seventeen year old Princess Charlotte.

[4] While she certainly was not a beauty, her countenance was very expressive and showed extreme intelligence; she was not tall, but had a slight, rather pretty figure; her bright eyes sparkled with good humour and vivacity; her mouth was large, but filled with white and even teeth; and her hair was a beautiful light brown colour. [3] The King announced to his Council in July 1761, according to the usual form, his intention to wed the Princess, and Lord Hardwicke was despatched to Mecklenburg to solicit her hand in the King’s name. [5] Charlotte’s brother Adolf Friedrich IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and widowed mother, who actively sought a prominent marriage for the young princess, received him with every honour that the little court was capable of showing him, and he returned within a month of departure after having completed all the necessary preliminaries, well pleased with his mission. [5] By the end of August 1761, the escort arrived that was to conduct Princess Charlotte to England: the Duchess of Ancaster, the Duchess of Hamilton, both Ladies of the Bedchamber; Mrs.

Tracey, Bedchamber Woman; Earl Harcourt, Proxy for the King; and General Graeme, set out on their route. [3] A most dreadful storm of thunder overtook them, and lightning set fire to several trees along a road through which they had to pass. [6] They arrived nevertheless in safety at Cuxhaven , and embarked on a squadron of British yachts and warships under Admiral Anson (including the specially renamed HMY Royal Charlotte ). They were nine days at sea due to a storm, the voyage being usually accomplished in about three days. Instead of going on to land at Greenwich , where everything was prepared for the reception of the Princess, Admiral Anson thought it better to make for the nearest port and docked at Harwich , where they remained at anchor for the night. This was on Sunday, the 6th of September, and landing the next morning they travelled to Essex , where they rested, and then continued their journey towards London. Arriving at St. James’s Palace on 7 September, she met the King and the royal family. The following day at nine o’clock (8 September) the ceremony took place in the Chapel Royal and was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Thomas Secker .

[7] Life as Queen Queen Charlotte with her children and brothers, by John Zoffany , 1771-72 In 1767, Francis Cotes drew a pastel of Queen Charlotte with her eldest daughter Charlotte, Princess Royal . Lady Mary Coke called the likeness “so like that it could not be mistaken for any other person”. [8] Unfortunately, there can be little doubt that the early married life of the young Queen was scarcely a happy one. The King was worried with ministerial troubles, and the princess dowager, secure in the support of the favourite Lord Bute , was able to exert all the influence and authority which age and knowledge of the world and the position of a parent would give her over a young and inexperienced couple. [9] The young queen was unable to resist, and a sort of palace despotism developed where her mother-in-law controlled all her actions. The king himself, strongly under his mother’s influence, was not inclined to interfere, and assumed that all was done rightly. Already she was not allowed to be too intimate with the English ladies of her household. It was laid down as being formal etiquette of the court that they should not approach her save under the direction of her German attendants.

Card-playing, which she loved, was presently interdicted. [10] Naturally, too, there were the German and the English factions of dependents; each jealously contending for their royal mistress’s favour, dictating the terms and conditions of their service, and threatening to go back to Germany unless particular privileges were given them. The poor queen had about as much anxiety and trouble with her dependents as her husband had with his insubordinate ministers or servants. [11] Despite this the marriage was a success, and on 12 August 1762, the Queen gave birth to her first child, the Prince of Wales , who would later become George IV . On 13 September, the Queen attended the Chapel Royal to offer the usual thanksgiving which took place after childbirth. The ceremony of christening the Prince of Wales, which took place at St. James’s Palace, was attended with every circumstance of splendour. The cradle upon which the infant lay was covered with a magnificent drapery of Brussels lace. [12] In the course of their marriage, they had 15 children, all but two of whom ( Octavius and Alfred ) survived into adulthood.

Around this time the King and Queen moved to Buckingham House, at the western end of St. James’s Park , which would later be known as Buckingham Palace . The house which forms the architectural core of the present palace was built for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 to the design of William Winde . Buckingham House was eventually sold by Buckingham’s descendant, Sir Charles Sheffield, in 1761 to George III for £ 21,000 [13] (£3,000,000 as of 2010). [14] The house was originally intended as a private retreat, and in particular for Charlotte, and was known as The Queen’s House [15] —14 of their 15 children were born there. St. James’s Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence. [16] Interests and patronage “Patroness of Botany, and of the Fine Arts” George III and Queen Charlotte were music connoisseurs and passionate admirers of George Frideric Handel ; both had German taste, and gave special honour to German artists and composers.

[17] In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , then aged eight, arrived in Britain with his family as part of their grand tour of Europe and remained from April, 1764, until July, 1765. [18] The Mozarts were summoned to court on 19 May, and played before a limited circle from six to ten o’clock. Johann Christian Bach , eleventh son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach , was then music-master to the Queen, put the difficult works of Handel, Bach, and Abel before the boy. He played them all at sight, and those present were quite amazed. [19] Afterwards he accompanied the Queen in an aria which she sang, and played a solo work on the flute. [20] On 29 October, they were in town again, and were invited to court to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the King’s accession.

As a memento of the royal favour, his father Leopold Mozart published six sonatas composed by Wolfgang, known as Mozart’s Opus 3 , and were dedicated to the Queen on 18 January 1765, dedication she rewarded with a present of fifty guineas. [21] Queen Charlotte was an amateur botanist who took a great interest in Kew Gardens , and, in an age of discovery, when travellers and explorers such as Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks were constantly bringing home new species and varieties of plants, saw that the collections were greatly enriched and expanded. [22] Her interest in botany led to the magnificent South African flower, the Bird of Paradise, being named Strelitzia reginae in her honour. [23] Among the royal couple’s favored craftsmen and artists were the cabinetmaker William Vile , silversmith Thomas Heming , the landscape designer Capability Brown , and the German painter Johann Zoffany , who frequently painted the king and queen and their children in charmingly informal scenes, such as a portrait of Queen Charlotte and her children as she sat at her dressing table. [24] The queen also founded orphanages and a hospital for expectant mothers.

The education of women was a great importance to her, and she saw to it that her daughters were better educated than was usual for young women of the day. However, she insisted that her daughters live restricted lives close to their mother, and refused to allow them to marry until they were well-advanced in years, with the result that none of her daughters had legitimate issue (one, Princess Sophia, may have had an illegitimate son). In 2004, the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace staged an exhibition illustrating George and Charlotte’s enthusiastic arts patronage, which was particularly enlightened in contrast to that of earlier Hanoverian monarchs; it compared favorably to the adventuresome tastes of the king’s father, Frederick, Prince of Wales . Up until 1788, portraits of Charlotte often depict her in maternal poses with her children, and she looks young and contented. [25] However, in that year her husband fell seriously ill and became temporarily insane. It is now thought that the King was suffering from a genetic metabolic disorder, porphyria , but at the time the cause of the King’s illness was unknown.

Sir Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of her at this time marks a transition point after which she looks much older in her portraits. Indeed, the Assistant Keeper of Charlotte’s Wardrobe, Mrs. Papendiek, wrote that the Queen was “much changed, her hair quite grey”. [26] Relations with Marie Antoinette Charlotte sat for Sir Thomas Lawrence in September 1789. His portrait of her was exhibited at the Royal Academy the following year. Reviewers thought it “a strong likeness”. [27] The French Revolution of 1789 probably added to the strain that Charlotte felt. [28] Queen Charlotte and Queen Marie Antoinette of France kept a close relationship. Queen Charlotte was 11 years older than the Queen of France yet they shared many interests, such as their love of music and the arts in which they both enthusiastically took an interest. Never meeting face to face they kept the friendship to pen and paper. The Queen of France confided in the Queen of Great Britain upon the outbreak of the French Revolution. Charlotte had even organized apartments to be prepared and ready for the refugee royal family of France to stay in.

[29] After the execution of Marie Antoinette and the bloody events that followed, Charlotte was said to be shocked and overwhelmed that such a thing could happen to a kingdom, and right on Britain’s doorstep. Husband’s illness After the onset of his madness, George III was placed in the care of his wife, who could not bring herself to visit him very often, due to his erratic behaviour and occasional violent reactions. However, Charlotte remained supportive of her husband as his illness, now believed to be porphyria , worsened in old age. While her son, the Prince Regent, wielded the royal power, she was her husband’s legal guardian from 1811 until her death in 1818. Later life The queen died in the presence of her eldest son, the Prince Regent , who was holding her hand as she sat in an armchair at the family’s country retreat, Dutch House in Surrey (now known as Kew Palace ). She was buried at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle . Her husband died just over a year later.

She is the second longest-serving consort in British history, having served as such from her marriage (on 8 September 1761) to her death (17 November 1818), a total of 57 years and 70 days. Her eldest son, the Prince Regent, claimed Charlotte’s jewels at her death, but the rest of her property was sold at auction from May to August 1819. Her clothes, furniture, and even her snuff was sold by Christie’s . [30] It is highly unlikely that her husband ever knew of her death, and he died, blind, deaf, lame and insane, fourteen months later. Issue 28. Georg Albrecht I, Count of Erbach 14. Georg Ludwig I, Count of Erbach-Erbach 29. Countess Elisabeth Dorothea of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst 7. Countess Sophie Albertine of Erbach-Erbach. 30. Count Philipp Theodor Waldeck-Eisenberg 15. Countess Amelie Katherine of Waldeck-Eisenberg 31.

Countess Maria Magdalena of Nassau-Siegen Legacy Claims of African ancestry Mario de Valdes y Cocom, a historian of the African diaspora, has argued [31] that Allan Ramsay , a noted abolitionist , frequently painted the Queen in works said to emphasize the alleged mulatto appearance of Charlotte, and that Ramsay’s coronation portrait of Charlotte was sent to the colonies and was used by abolitionists as a de facto support for their cause. Valdes y Cocom goes on to state that, along with descriptions of a “mulatto face” (as, supposedely, Baron Stockmar , whom Valdes y Cocom wrongly considers Queen Charlotte’s personal physician [32] , wrote in his autobiography) [31] [33] , the Queen’s features had also been described as Vandalic , as exemplified by a poem written for the occasion of her marriage (“most literary of these allusions”, according to Valdes y Cocom) [31] : “Descended from the warlike Vandal race, She still preserves that title in her face.

Tho’ shone their triumphs o’er Numidia ‘s plain, And Andalusian [34] fields their name retain; They but subdued the southern world with arms, She conquers still with her triumphant charms, O! born for rule, – to whose victorious brow The greatest monarch of the north must bow.“ Valdes y Cocom does not seem to take notice that the Vandals were a Germanic people originating from Northern Europe , that migrated first to Andalusia (modern southern Spain ) in 409 AD, and afterwords to North Africa in 429 AD (namely to Numidia , were they established the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa ), and that this poem is a eulogy linking Queen Charlotte to that distant Germanic nation, further straining the credulity of Charlotte’s supposed Sub-Saharan African ethnicity. However, the phrase Vandal race, used to describe Queen Charlotte, is linked with an official ducal title of the House of Mecklenburg : Princeps Vandalorum, i.e. Prince of Wends , because of their overt Slavic origin.

[35] [36] All this has led Mario de Valdes y Cocom to inquire about her ancestry and research her genealogy. Still according to Valdes y Cocom, one of the possibilities for Queen Charlotte’s supposed racial features is that they were a concentration of traits inherited through three to six lines from a nine times removed ancestor of hers, Margarita de Castro e Souza, a 15th century Portuguese noblewoman who traced her ancestry six generations earlier to King Afonso III of Portugal and one of his lovers, Madragana . Critics of this theory argue that Margarita’s and Madragana’s distant perch in the queen’s family tree, respectively 9 and 15 generations removed, makes any presumed African ancestry, Northern or sub-Saharan , negligible and no more significant in Charlotte than in any other member of any German royal house at that time, and therefore that Charlotte could hardly be accurately described as “ mulatto ” or “African”. [37] Even more, Valdez y Cocom assumed that Madragana was a Black African woman.

In fact, a single author, Duarte Nunes de Leão, described her as a Moor [38] , that is to say, in the context of the Iberian Reconquista , someone of Islamic religion, regardless of actual ethnic origin (and that could have been Arab , North African Berber , or Muladi – native Iberian European Christians who converted to Islam after the arrival of the Moors, all of whom can be described as Caucasian or White ). Modern researchers, however, believe Madragana to have been a Mozarab , that is to say an Iberian Christian living under Muslim control, of Sephardi Jewish origin. [39] Valdez y Cocom has also argued, trying to defend the African origin of Queen Charlotte, that the Royal Household itself, at the time of Queen Elizabeth II ‘s coronation in 1952, referred to both her Asian and African bloodlines in an apologia it published defending her position as head of the Commonwealth. [31] This is denied by Buckingham Palace. [40] The issue remains important to Afrocentrists . Portrayals Gary Lloyd’s novel Mulatto Queen is built on Valdez’s claims.

Queen Charlotte was played by actress Frances White in the 1979 BBC series Prince Regent and later by Helen Mirren in the film The Madness of King George (1994). Titles, style, honours and arms Styles of Arms of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. [41] Titles and styles 19 May 1744 – 8 September 1761: Her Serene Highness Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg [42] 8 September 1761 – 17 November 1818: Her Majesty The Queen Arms The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom are impaled with her father’s arms as Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz .

Notes and sources ^ a b Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald: The good Queen Charlotte, 1899; page 7 ^ Charlotte Louise Henrietta Papendiek: Court and private life in the time of Queen Charlotte, 1887; page 3 ^ a b c Charlotte Louise Henrietta Papendiek: Court and private life in the time of Queen Charlotte, 1887; page 9 ^ Charlotte Louise Henrietta Papendiek: Court and private life in the time of Queen Charlotte, 1887; page 2-3 ^ a b Charlotte Louise Henrietta Papendiek: Court and private life in the time of Queen Charlotte, 1887; page 4 ^ Charlotte Louise Henrietta Papendiek: Court and private life in the time of Queen Charlotte, 1887; page 6 ^ Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald: The good Queen Charlotte, 1899; page 32-33 ^ Levey, pp.8–9 Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744 - 1818) - Find A Grave Memorial London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Greater London, England British monarch, Queen consort of King

 George III.

Daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Elizabeth of Saxe-Hildburghausen. She married George on September 8, 1761. Despite not having been his first choice of a wife and a general lack of feeling from her mother-in-law, their marriage blossomed. George is not known to have ever been unfaithful to her. Together they had 16 children, most of whom survived to adulthood. Charlotte stood by her husband even as he descended into mental illness, though she pre-deceased him by two years. She died at Kew Palace at the age of 74. The cities of Charlotte (Mecklenburg County) NC, Charlottesville VA, and Charlottetown PEI were all named in her honor. (bio by: Kristen Conrad) Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - Person - National Portrait Gallery Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818), Queen consort of George III Sitter associated with 83 portraits Queen of George III .

The youngest daughter of Charles Louis of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, she first her future husband on 8 September 1761 and was married to him that evening. Unable to speak English and kept under the King's strict supervision, Charlotte felt alienated from both her husband and her adopted country during the initial decades of her marriage. Eventually the couple formed a strong and affectionate bond. Although she did not play much part in politics, her connections with German dukedoms made her a channel for the king's continental affairs. She had fifteen children and her popular reputation was that of unimpeachable if rather stern domesticity.

Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below On display in Room 14 at the National Portrait Gallery NPG 224 by Henry Bone, after Sir William Beechey enamel on copper, 1801, based on a work of circa 1793 On display in Room 14 at the National Portrait Gallery NPG 6290 attributed to (Isaac) Robert Cruikshank, after Henry Meyer wash and pencil, circa 1810 NPG 2788 by Charles Spooner, after Mary Benwell (Mrs Code) mezzotint, mid 18th century by Richard Houston, published by John Bowles, and published by Robert Sayer, after Thomas Frye mezzotint, 1761 by Johann Philipp Haid, published by Johann Daniel Herz the Younger, after Unknown artist mezzotint, after 1761 by Richard Houston, after Thomas Frye mezzotint, (1762) by James Watson, after Thomas Frye mezzotint, (1762) mezzotint, published 24 May 1762 NPG

 D11287 by Richard Houston, published by Robert Sayer, after Robert Pyle mezzotint, mid 1760s Tell us more back to top Can you tell us more about this person?

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Question: Which English king was married to Charlotte of Mecklenberg?
Answer: GEORGE III